With Rangers’ season now, to all intents and purposes, completely over, attention has started to turn towards the summer.
On Thursday night, the Gers crashed out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage, beaten 2-0 by Athletic Club Bilbao at San Mamés.
This confirmed that the Light Blues will end the season trophyless, not involved in this weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-finals, having been historically dumped out by Queen’s Park earlier in the competition.
Meantime, in the Scottish Premiership, the Gers are 15 points adrift of runaway leaders Celtic with 15 points to play for, and a goal difference that is 42 inferior; they’re not going to catch their rivals even if, rather jokingly, Kris Boyd said “the title race is still on”.
So now, it’s pretty much full focus on next summer; the squad needs a major overhaul and a new manager is required too, all of which, ideally, must be sorted out quickly, considering Rangers’ season will start early with a Champions League second qualifying round tie on 22/23 July.
This summer’s rebuild would certainly be easier had the Gers been able to hold onto their “big prospect” being compared to the SPFL’s best player.
Daizen Maeda's impact at Celtic
Given Daizen Maeda’s form for Celtic this season, the Japanese forward is an absolute shoo-in to win the PFA Scotland Players’ Player of the Year as well as the SFWA Footballer of the Year awards, to add to the Premiership golden boot he’s on course to collect too.
Maeda was on target during last weekend’s thumping of Kilmarnock, taking his tally to 31 for the season, four of which came in the Champions League.
He is therefore seeking to become only the third Celtic player this century to score 40 times in a single campaign, after Henrik Larsson in 2003/04 and Leigh Griffiths 12 years later, with six, or possibly seven, matches remaining in which to achieve this.
To date, Maeda has netted five times against Rangers, one of which came during December’s League Cup Final, before also converting the winning penalty as the Hoops hoisted aloft the trophy at Hampden.
Meantime, there is an ex-Rangers attacker being compared to Maeda, one that the Gers will surely rue letting go.
The ex-Rangers star impressing in the Champions League
Abdallah Sima only spent one season on loan at Rangers from Brighton & Hove Albion, namely the most recent campaign, but, during his 40 appearances for the Light Blues, he certainly impressed, with the table below outlining why.
Appearances
40
Minutes
2,662
Goals
16
Assists
2
Minutes per goal
166
Winning goals
5
Chances created
26
Shot accuracy
54.47%
The Senegalese international was Rangers’ third-highest scorer last season, behind only James Tavernier and Cyriel Dessers, but they were unable to keep hold of him.
Instead, Brighton decided to loan the 23-year-old out to Stade Brestois, for whom he’s scored 11 times in 35 appearances, particularly impressing during les Pirates’ debut Champions League campaign, on target against Sturm Graz before also scoring a brace against RB Salzburg.
Podcast host Dan Woffenden labels him a “big prospect”, with David Hutt of Breaking the Lines impressed by Sima’s ‘speed, strength, positional awareness [and] link-up play’, adding he possesses all the attributes of a ‘modern-day striker’.
Meantime, Andy Naylor and Mark Carey of the Athletic outline Sima’s ‘meteoric rise’, given that he was playing for Silon Táborsko in the Czech lower leagues as recently as 2020, now one of European football’s hottest properties, according to Nick Ames of the Guardian.
His current Transfermarkt valuation has skyrocketed to a career high of €10m (£9m) this season, which would make him the most valuable member of the current Rangers squad.
So, let’s assess how his Champions League statistics compare to those of Maeda.
Goals
3
35th
4
22nd
Goals per 90
0.53
28th
0.47
34th
Goals – xG
+0.5
126th
+1
54th
Shots
16
68th
15
83rd
Shots on target %
25%
241st
46.7%
76th
Shots per 90
2.83
42nd
1.78
119th
Goals per shot
0.19
72nd
0.27
29th
Shot-creating actions
12
266th
15
216th
Shot-creating action per 90
2.13
225th
1.78
264th
Progressive carries
113
458th
163
342nd
Touches in opp pen area
27
89th
29
78th
As the table outlines, looking at statistics from this season’s Champions League, Sima and Maeda are stylistically very similar – as has been noted by FBref – particularly when it comes to their numbers for shots, shot-creating actions and touches in the opposition penalty area.
What is certain is that this flailing Rangers side would certainly be stronger with Sima in it, and he has ultimately proved to be a major loss this season.
